Punctures. Cobbles. Crashes. Ask the average cyclist what Paris-Roubaix means to them, and it's unlikely that they'll regale you with stories of famous wins or daring moves. Instead, they'll focus on the brutality of road cycling's most notorious Classic, nicknamed Hell of the North. A 256.6km race that includes 54.5km of cobblestones over 29 separate sections (or secteurs if you know the lingo), the iconic Monument began in 1896, and often falls on Easter Sunday, when conditions can shift like the allegiance of Judas - any rain turning the dusty pavé into a mud bath.
Thousands of spectators line the streets and cobbled farm tracks of northern France, experiencing the mind-boggling speed up close as the peloton winds its way from the outskirts of the French capital to Roubaix's velodrome on the Belgian border. Although a Brit is yet to win one of its 120 editions, its influence is keenly felt on this side of the Channel. The race has become a must-watch moment for those whose only other fix of the World Tour is the Tour de France, and it has even inspired events, including Rapha's suitably named A Day in Hell.
An event run and organised by Rapha since 2010, it offers masochists the chance to sample a sector strewn ride of their own on the same day as the Paris-Roubaix before sitting back and watching the cross-channel action unfold in the warm and dry on a big TV with some Belgian staples - beer and frites. I went along to the London event to get the immersive ParisRoubaix experience a (cobble) stone's throw from my front door.
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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GANARY A COALMINE
The James Brown tune 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' comes on the radio, filling the coach, and does nothing for my pre-event nerves as I sit surrounded by serious-looking, wiry, tanned men in Lycra. It's 6.30am, pitch black outside and I'm feeling very out of my depth as a relative newcomer to the world of clipless pedals and hurting for fun. Last night's stress dream involved being very unprepared to get married and being handed my great-grandmother-in-law-to-be's hideous silver dress with lace trim to wear minutes before the ceremony was due to start. I'll let you psychoanalyse that one.
BORDER PATROL
British travel writer Tim Wild heads on a pilgrimage to Arizona's gravel Mecca, and isn't disappointed
COLD SNAPS
Chris Lanaway dons the deepest winter thermals for the Abloc Winter Challenge in southern Sweden
Master Age-group racing
Tips to keep you on the race course as you get older
Guava Spot Force AXS
£4,950 Big-value, Barcelona-born bike that hits the spot for gravel riding
Seasonal disorder
Pinpointing the start of the cycling season is no easy task, writes Ned
Ride all winter
10 scientifically proven ways to bolster your immunity
Joined-up thinking
Connecting more rail stations to the NCN is long overdue
Castelli Gabba
Castelli’s breathable, close-fitting yet waterproof and windproof jacket marked a watershed in cycle clothing
Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
